As you enter the garden, you pass a chozubachi, a ritual water basin that offers a purifying sip and hand wash. To the left, past two enclosed hydrotherapy rooms, is a koi pond fed by water gurgling down a rock wall. In the garden's opposite corner is a waterfall constructed of rocks hand-picked by owner and visionary Ilene Rubinstein.

"That concept of purifying yourself through water is what inspired me," says Ilene, who also owns a chiropractic practice and a dance and Pilates studio next door. "As soon as you walk in, I wanted to create the flow of water."

Nothing else like Chozu exists in the Pacific Northwest, says Ilene, adding that the closest comparison would be Kabuki Springs & Spa in San Francisco, where guests use gender-specified, communal baths and can add services like massage or facials.